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| NIGHT AND THE CITY (1950) | |
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Building a sand castle complies several elementary difficulties in a long-term perspective, as weather and tide will have
their affects on the sandy creation.
Bathers and other visitors of the beach will trample the beach in quest for a dry and proper space for intake of sun and social interaction.
Children play with beach toys and run around, as if they were looking for Christmas presents on Christmas Day.
On this busy location which many visit on sunny days several people, children and adults, brings themselves to erect these sandy monuments in order to live up
to some vision, or an idea.
Initially, it seems like a good idea, and the building process might also encourage continued efforts on the sand castle.
However, as wind picks up the drying sand begins to drift off the surface of the miniature monument, which is followed by a tide and trample.
This will erase any memory of what once was built in the space where the sand castle
existed. Most people see the limited opportunity of building sand castles, however, there are a few who base their existence on the same frail notion.
One of these characters is Harry Fabian (Richard Widmark) who is busy building his own sand castles at
night, which always tend to be gone in the morning. Nighttime shots of London’s famous landmarks such as Big Ben, the Thames, and the neon signs of Piccadilly Square take place while an ominous voice reminds the audience of the night and any night. This opening offers a powerful impression on the audience, as it presents a symbolic visual together with the narration of the dangers that lurk the streets during the dark hours. The visuals are accompanied by restrained tunes, which bring a feeling of a bad omen. Suddenly, the creepy tune is interrupted by an alarming fast-paced tune, as Henry Fabian is trying to escape someone who is following him. The chase brings Henry to his girlfriend’s place where he seeks shelter from the following man. The brief meeting between Henry and his girlfriend Mary (Gene Tierney) displays the true nature behind Henry’s character, which in essence, is an insecure flighty opportunist without morals or backbone. Mary, who has known him for a long time knows this, but is helpless due to her strong affections to Henry. Henry’s persona is built on only one thing – money. The job he has is to get people to give him, or more precise his boss, Phil (Francis L. Sullivan), money to the private Silver Fox Club. The dreams Henry has surround money, and it appears to the audience that only money can make him happy. Skillfully Henry cons men to visit the private club, which only exists to exploit the weakness of lonesome men. These visiting men have to pay excessive amounts of money to fill their insecurities with phony affection, as the women say nice things and ask the men to buy them chocolates and cheap champagne. Henry’s existence is as hollow as this establishment for which he works, but he is completely unaware of his emotional neglect or lack of a real skill as his eyes are set on money. Mary’s neighbor, Adam (Hugh Marlowe), points out the most important aspect of Henry by stating “Henry is an artist without an art.” When Henry visits a wrestling match to recruit more visitors to the club he overhears the infamous wrestler Gregorius the Great (Stanislaus Zbyszko) loudly discredit the wrestling match. Gregorius finds the wrestling match to be a circus, as he finds it offensive in regards to the true nature of Greco-roman wrestling. His son Kristo (Herbert Lom) responds to the accusations that wrestling must change with the times. However, Gregorius is offended and walks off. Henry discovers that he sits on a golden egg, as he rushes off to convince Gregorius that Greco-roman wrestling can still conquer the audience and that it is far superior. During this scene it is evident that Henry does not care about wrestling, as he seeks the quick way to riches for himself without consideration for others. Quickly Henry seeks people with capital to invest in his idea, as he is about to erect his biggest sand castle ever. Initially people laugh at him, however, it only infuriates him. This anger provides an internal motivation for him to seek investors, as Phil has promised to match his assets that are put into the financial venture. On Henry’s quest for an investor he finds that no one wants to have anything to do with him, or his idea, until he meets Helen (Googie Withers) Phil’s wife. Helen is willing to put up the money for a favor to which Henry agrees. With the starting capital Henry seems to be in heaven, as he can now begin rake in the money. Kristo sets stops to Henry's attempts to start the Greco-roman wrestling organization in a lawful way, but when Kristo finds out that he has turned his father against him it begins to turn very ugly. Night and the City is a magnificent story depicted through skillful cinematography, which is enhanced through how each scene is framed. In addition, the mise-en-scene helps develop the strong undercurrents in the film, as feelings such as envy, greed, love, and deceit are depicted. The cast performs very well and they enhance the feelings through their body language and how they look upon one another--not to mention, the script, which is brilliant. However, it is the final product, the story, which generates a truly brilliant cinematic experience, which will leave the audience with thoughts to reflect on while having experienced an intriguing tale of a man’s misled fate. |
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DIRECTED BY |
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| Jules Dassin | |
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UK |
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| REVIEWED | |
| 2/5/2005 | |
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The Internet Movie Database. |
